Servicing Leadership

Industry-leading loan servicing starts with great people

The depth of industry experience among NorthMarq’s Servicing leadership team creates a knowledge base that benefits both our customers and the entire Servicing team. They’re good people who lead by example and believe in delivering outstanding service whether a customer has one loan in the portfolio or dozens.

Bert Libke, director of servicing was promoted to lead the servicing group in 2013 and is responsible for NorthMarq Capital’s Loan Administration, Investor Reporting and Escrow departments. He joined Northmarq in 1993 as commercial mortgage analyst and then as manager of the asset management team. Starting in 2002 Bert served as director of servicing at Glaser Financial/MMA Financial until he re-joined NorthMarq in 2005 as manager of escrow administration. Bert has also worked as an auditor with a regional CPA firm. He graduated from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management with a Bachelor of Science in Business.

Dennis Cruikshank, senior manager loan operations is currently responsible for audits, new loan boarding, project management, records management, compliance and cash processing. He joined NorthMarq Capital in 1997 as a commercial mortgage analyst and then as senior manager of portfolio management with oversight of all day-to-day portfolio administration and asset management activities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the University of St. Thomas.

Deanna Samaraka, manager of training and systems development, is responsible for strategically meeting the organizational needs for employee and systems development in servicing. She is currently leading a major migration to a new loan servicing software solution for the core business functions. In addition, she oversees a talent management software system that she previously implemented and branded. This tool allow employees to direct their own career through goal setting, performance feedback and online learning.

In her first 10 years at NorthMarq, Deanna worked in and managed various departments and teams. The most lengthy and notable contributions were over nine years of managing escrow administration; a team responsible for insurance compliance, hazard loss oversight, escrow balances, property tax administration and UCC filings. Other areas of impact during her tenure include new loan boarding, portfolio management and investor accounting. Deanna is known for creating procedural efficiencies, being innovative through automating tasks, and elevating the level of knowledge and service provided. Prior to working at NorthMarq, Deanna worked in banking and residential mortgage origination, in varying roles. She graduated from Minnesota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

Jeff Davis, manager – Portfolio Management, is responsible for overseeing the Portfolio Management Department. Jeff joined NorthMarq Capital in 2010 as a loan portfolio snalyst and was promoted to senior loan portfolio analyst in 2011, loan portfolio manager in 2013, and co-manager of the Portfolio Management Department in 2016. His responsibilities include overseeing the day-to-day asset management activities for the department (CMBS, CME, and Agency) as well as managing the loan event processes and credit committee. Jeff holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Economics from South Dakota State University and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota.

Tarrah Mueller, vice president/senior manager – Portfolio Management, is responsible for overseeing the Portfolio Management Department. Tarrah joined NorthMarq Capital in July 2003 as a commercial mortgage analyst. Within the loan servicing department Tarrah manages oversight of the Life Lender portfolios ensuring compliance with servicing agreements, loan documents, lender requirements and internal policies and procedures to best minimize risk. Day-to-day activities include client relationship management, oversight of asset management activities (primarily Life Insurance Companies), financial statement analysis, reserve escrow administration, payoffs and loan collections. Prior to NorthMarq Capital, Tarrah worked as an actuarial analyst for a Life Insurance company. She is a graduate of Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

Jason Lenz, vice president/senior manager – Escrow Administration, is responsible for overseeing the Insurance Department. Jason joined NorthMarq in 2004, starting out as an analyst and later a senior analyst, before moving on to a supervisor role within the Investor Accounting Department in 2009. He moved back to the CMBS Team as its manager in 2011, was promoted to co-manager of the Portfolio Management Department in 2013, and started managing the Insurance Department in 2016. Prior to joining NorthMarq, Jason worked as an analyst at The Sinclair Group, a Mergers & Acquisitions Advisory Firm. Jason is a graduate of Bethel College with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Finance and Marketing.

Jaimie Owler, manager – Investor Accounting, Reporting and Tax, joined NorthMarq Capital in March 2015. She oversees the teams responsible for money movements, disbursements, deposits, taxes, UCC’s and the reporting and remitting of lender funds. Responsibilities of these teams also include daily balancing and reconciling of bank accounts. Prior to joining NorthMarq she worked for 10 years at The Hartford in their mutual funds group supervising a team responsible for shareholder reporting and mutual fund expenses. Jaimie graduated from Saint Mary's University in Winona, Minnesota with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting.